Shloka 18

Devanagari script

क्षपयित्वा तु तं कालं गणितं कालचोदिता: । सावशेषेण कालेन सम्भवन्ति पुन: पुन:,इस प्रकार स्वर्ग अथवा नरकमें कर्मफलभोगद्दारा निश्चित समय व्यतीत करके भोगनेसे बचे हुए कर्म-सहित कालकी प्रेरणासे वे बारंबार इस संसारमें जन्म लेते रहते हैं

Transliteration

kṣapayitvā tu taṃ kālaṃ gaṇitaṃ kālacoditāḥ | sāvaśeṣeṇa kālena sambhavanti punaḥ punaḥ ||

Translation

నిర్ధారితంగా లెక్కించబడిన ఆ కాలాన్ని అనుభవించి తీర్చుకున్న తరువాత, కాల ప్రేరణతో— మిగిలిన కర్మతో కూడి— వారు మళ్లీ మళ్లీ జన్మిస్తారు।

Word by Word

क्षपयित्वाhaving spent/consumed

तुbut/indeed

तम्that

कालम्time/period

गणितम्reckoned/calculated (fixed)

कालचोदिताःimpelled by time

स-अवशेषेणwith remainder/with what is left

कालेनby/with time (the remaining period)

सम्भवन्तिthey come into being/are born

पुनःagain

पुनःagain (repeatedly)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Kāla (Time)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even after a being enjoys or suffers the results of actions in heaven or hell for a fixed duration, rebirth continues until the remaining (residual) karma is exhausted; Time (kāla) is presented as the force that propels this recurring cycle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira in the Śānti Parva, he explains the mechanics of post-mortem experience and return: beings spend the allotted term for their karmic fruits, and then—if any karmic residue remains—Time drives them back into repeated births in the world.